| John Gilbert Winant | |
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68th & 71st Governor of New Hampshire
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| In office 1925 – 1927 1931 – 1935 |
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| Preceded by | Fred H. Brown (1925) Charles W. Tobey (1931) |
| Succeeded by | Huntley N. Spaulding (1927) Styles Bridges (1935) |
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| Born | February 23, 1889 New York City, New York |
| Died | November 3, 1947 (aged 58) |
| Political party | Republican |
John Gilbert Winant (February 23, 1889–November 3, 1947) was an American teacher and Republican politician from Concord, New Hampshire.[1] Born in New York City, Winant held positions in New Hampshire, national, and international politics. He was the first man to serve more than a single two-year term as Governor of New Hampshire, winning election three times.
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Background and early life
Winant attended St. Paul's School in Concord as well as Princeton University. He was appointed an instructor in history at St. Paul's in 1913, remaining there until 1917, and elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1916. In 1917 he joined the United States Army Air Service, trained as a pilot, and commanded the 8th Aero Squadron (Observation) in France, with the rank of captain.
Public offices
Winant returned to his position at St. Paul's in 1919 after his military service, and was elected to the New Hampshire Senate in 1920. He lost money in oil stocks in 1929, which he had profited from through the 1920s.
Governor of New Hampshire
He twice served as Governor of New Hampshire from 1925 to 1927 and later from 1931 to 1935.
Other offices
Subsequently President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Winant to be the first head of the Social Security Board in 1935, a position he held until 1937. The next year, he was elected to head the International Labor Office in Geneva, Switzerland, from January 1939.
US Ambassador to Great Britain
In 1941 Roosevelt appointed him ambassador to Britain, and remained in that post until he resigned in March 1946.
President Harry S. Truman appointed him U.S. representative to UNESCO in 1946, although he retired to Concord shortly after to write his memoirs.
In 1947, Winant was only the second American citizen, after General Dwight Eisenhower, to be made an honorary member of the Order of Merit.
Suicide
He committed suicide later in 1947 on the day his book Letter from Grosvenor Square was published,[2] and was buried at St. Paul's School.
An album of radio outtakes, Dick Clark Presents Radio's Uncensored Bloopers (Atlantic Records 80188), features a bizarre news report on Winant's suicide. The announcer quotes Winant's physician as saying Winant "committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a large sixty-cent-size package of Alka-Seltzer." (It is unknown whether the report or the recording of it are genuine, as many blooper records contain bits that were re-created after the fact.)
John Gilbert Winant was with Winston Churchill when he learned that Pearl Harbor was attacked
External links
- New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources - John G. Winant
- Social Security Pioneers - John Gilbert Winant
Notes
- ^ http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/wilsons-winford.html
- ^ Freedman, James O.. "John Gilbert Winant—Brief life of an exemplary public servant: 1889-1947". Harvard Magazine, November-December 2000. http://harvardmagazine.com/2000/11/john-gilbert-winant.html. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Fred H. Brown |
Governor of New Hampshire 1925 – 1927 |
Succeeded by Huntley N. Spaulding |
| Preceded by Charles W. Tobey |
Governor of New Hampshire 1931 – 1935 |
Succeeded by Styles Bridges |
| Non-profit organization positions | ||
| Preceded by Clarence A. Dykstra |
President of the National Municipal League 1940 – 1946 |
Succeeded by Charles Edison |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Joseph Kennedy |
U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom 1941 – 1946 |
Succeeded by Averell Harriman |
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